Johnny Depp's India Trip On Hold For Strike

Johnny Depp planned to spend the winter in India, playing an Australian heroin addict who escapes a maximum-security prison, reinvents himself as a doctor in the slums of India and eventually uses gun-running and counterfeiting skills to fight against the invading Russian troops in Afghanistan. But the Writers Guild of America’s strike has postponed shooting because the script isn’t ready, according to Variety.

Warner Bros. called off a February production start on “Shantaram,” the Mira Nair-directed adaptation of the Gregory David Roberts novel that was to star Johnny Depp.

The Weinstein Co., meanwhile, postponed “Nine,” the Rob Marshall-directed musical that was slated to start production in March with Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren and Marion Cotillard starring.